VETERINARY PERSONNEL in Sarangani province advised consumers to be more cautious when buying meat products, especially pork, from online sellers as these could have been sourced from areas affected by the African swine sever (ASF) outbreak.
Dr. Roy Mejorada, assistant head of the Sarangani veterinary office, said Monday they continue to monitor attempts by suppliers from Davao Region to transport processed pork products to the area.
He said the entry of pork products from Davao Region, especially from areas with confirmed cases of ASF, remains prohibited in Sarangani based on an executive order issued by Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon.
Since last month, he said over 2,300 kilos of processed pork products were already confiscated at the province’s veterinary quarantine checkpoint in Barangay Malungon Gamay, Malungon town.
The checkpoint was the nearest to the province’s border with Davao del Sur, one of the areas hit by the ASF.
Some 2,197 kilos of pork products were seized last May 14 and shipments of around 50 kilos each were intercepted on May 23, 27 and 28.
Mejorada said the meat products were placed in boxes for apples and transported by ordinary vehicles instead of refrigerated container vans.
He said the seized products included pork chorizo, tocino, siomai, embutido, lumpia and chicharon.
These were immediately destroyed by burning to avoid possible contamination and spread of the animal disease to nearby farms, he said.
The National Meat Inspection Service and the Department of Agriculture-Region 12’s (Soccsksargen) ASF task force earlier said it had monitored online sellers promoting processed pork products from Davao Region.
Most of the sellers were not registered and have no permits from concerned local government units to sell such products.
“Consumers should always check the origin of the pork products before buying,” Mejorada said in a statement.
The entire Soccsksargen was still considered free from ASF and its borders remain closed to meat products from ASF-hit areas.
Mejorada said DA-12 has declared the towns of Maasim, Kiamba and Maitum in Sarangani as well as this city and the provinces of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat as “free zones” for ASF, allowing swine producers to sell or ship live hogs and meat to other areas.
He said the municipalities of Malungon, Glan, Alabel and Malapatan were classified under “protected zones” due to their proximity to the ASF “infected zone” in Davao Occidental.(By Allen Estabillo)
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